Vise



SMITH Aug. 10, 1937.

VISE

Filed April 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 44 40 FIG. 6

FIG. 5

JMW L mds/ey Smifh Au 10, 1937. L. SMITH 2,089,625

' VISE Filed April 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Aug. 10, 1937 UNITED STATES FATE OFFICE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in vises, and the primary object of the invention is to provide a vise in which the clamping jaws may be readily moved toward and away from each other and in which the Vise operating handle need be turned through only a part of the revolution to apply clamping pressure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following specification when read in connection with the accompanying drawings which form a part of the specification, and in which I have illustrated the invention in the form which I consider the best. It is to be understood that the invention may be .15 embodied in other forms and it is intended that 25 Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view; Fig. 4 is a view on line 44 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a view on line 55 of Fig. 2;

30 Fig. 6 is a view on line 6-6 of Fig. 2;

Fig. '7 is a detail of a stop member;

Fig. 8 is a bottom plan view showing the clamping jaws in adjusted position prior to clamping;

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view showing the jaws in clamping position;

Fig. 10 is an isometric View of the clamping cam nut forming an important part of the invention;

40 Fig. 11 is a sectional view of one of the members of the clamping nut;

Figs. 12 to 14 are rear elevational views of the clamping nut in three successive positions; and

Figs. 15 to 17 show top plan views of the clamping nut in successive positions corresponding to those of Figs. 12 to 14, respectively.

In the drawings I indicates a frame adapted to rest against the under side of a work bench or other suitable support, and the frame I 0 is provided with holes l2, through which screws or bolts may be passed for securing the frame to its support. A stationary jaw 14 is fixed to the front end of the frame In and projects upwardly against the edge of the vise support. Holes I3 are pro- 55 vided in the jaw Hi to receive additional fastening means. A bearing l6 depends from the front end of the frame I0 and a bearing I 8 depends from the rear end of the frame, in which bearings are mounted for free reciprocal movement movable jaw shanks 20. The shanks 20 are secured to the movable clamping jaw 22 and extend rearwardly therefrom through the bearings I6 and I8.

The stationary jaw M has an opening therethrough located substantially midway of its length, for the purpose of accommodating an operating screw 26. The operating screw 26 extends through the movable jaw 22 and has attached to its extending end an operating handle 28. Surrounding the operating screw and fixed with respect thereto against the depending bearing I6, is a cam member 30 which is adapted to cooperate with a rotatable cam member 32. The cam member 30 is provided with a collar 34 which extends into an opening in the bearing plate I6 and the fixed jaw M, to provide a bearing for the operating shaft 26. The fixed cam member may be held against rotation by passing a stud through the bearing plate l6 into a hole or holes 36 formed on its outer plane surface.

The rotatable cam member 32 is provided in its bore with a screw segment 38 of limited circumferential area. Beyond the screw segment 38 is a feather 40 which extends radially inwardly beyond the screw segment 38 for a purpose which will hereinafter be more clearly described. 30

The cam members 30 and 32 are retained on the operating shaft 26 by means of a relatively stiff resilient retaining plate 42 which is held in position by the jaw shanks 20 which pass through relatively elongated holes 44 in the ends of the retaining plate.

It will be noted that the operating screw 26 is mutilated by means of a longitudinal groove 46 which intersects the screw threads from one end of the operating member to the other. When in assembled position, the screw segment 38 and the feather 40 of the rotatable cam member 32 lie in the groove 46, thus permitting the operating screw 26 toslide freely in both directions. It will be evident therefore that any adjustment of the jaw 22 with relation to the jaw M can be made quickly and without manipulating the operating handle 28, simply by sliding the operating screw through the cam members 30 and 32 to bring the movable jaw 22 toward or away from 50 the fixed jaw I4.

Assume now that it is desired to clamp an object between the jaws I4 and 22, the object is placed between the jaws and the jaw 22 is brought into abutment with the object as shown in Fig. 1, simply by sliding the shanks 20 through the bearings of the supporting frame and the operating screw 26 through the cam members 30 and 32. When the jaw 22 has been brought into firm engagement with the object to be clamped in the vise, the operating handle 28 is then moved in a clockwise direction. Since the handle 28 and the operating screw 26 are joined for rotary movement, the operating screw 26 is rotated relative to the cam members 30 and 32. The threads of the operating screw 26 will then engage the thread segment 38 in the rotatable cam member 32 to lock the operating screw26 and the cam member 32 against relative longitudinal movement. Upon further rotation of the operating screw 26 the threads thereof come in contact with the radial feather 40 in the rotatable cam member 32 and thereafter relative rotation between the operating screw 26 and the rotatable cam member 32 is prevented. Upon further rotation of the operating screw 26 the cam member 32 is rotated in a clockwise direction with relation to the fixed cam member 30, thereby causing the cam surfaces on their abutting faces to co -act in a manner that will cause the operating screw 26 to move inwardly against the resilience of the plate 42 and thus carry the movable jaw 22 against the object to be clamped with greater force.

130 In Figs. 12 and 15 are shown the relative positionof. the cam members 30 and 32, and. the operating screw 26, while the screw segment 38 and the feather of the cam members lie in the groove 46 of the screw 26. In this position,

3 which is the initial position, the operating screw 26 may slide freely through the cam members 30 and 32. In' Figs. 13 and 16 the operating screw 26 has been moved to permit its threads to engage the segment 38 and the feather 46. Upon further rotation, as shown in Figs. 14 and 17.

the cam member 32 is rotated by the movement of the operating screw 26 to cause the cam surface thereon to co-act with the cam surface on the fixed member 30, to produce a final clamping action as described.

' To release the clamped object it is merely necessary to turn the operating screw 26 in a counterclockwise direction to disengage its threads from the segment 38 of the cam member 32 and move the jaw 22 away from the work by sliding the operating screw 26 in the cam members. The resilient retaining plate 42, assisted by the turning of the operating screw 26, will return the cam member 32 to its non-gripping contact with its complementary part 30.

Since the jaw 22 and the parts attached thereto are free to slide when the segment 38 lies in the groove 46 of the operating screw, I have provided stop members 48 on the end of the jaw shanks 2B. These stop members may be in the form of cotter pins or they may be in the nature of split washers which fit in grooves formed in the shanks as shown in Fig. '7 of the drawings.

Modifications of my invention may be and may become apparent to those skilled in the art, but I do not intend to be in any way limited in the use of my invention except by the scope of the slibjoined claim.

What I claim is:

A vise comprising a frame, a fixed jaw on said frame; a fixed oam'member carried by said frame, a rotatable cam memberseparate and distinct from the fixed jaw and the fixed cam and having cooperative relation, with the fixed cam member, bearings in said frame, a movable jaw reciprocatively mounted in said bearings, a threaded operating shaft rotatably secured to said movable jaw and extending freely through said fixed jaw and the fixed cam member and then through the movable cam member, a longitudinal groove in said shaft, a thread segment in said rotatable cam normally disposed in said groove to permit free relative longitudinal movement of said shaft through said cam members, said segment being adapted upon'the initial rotation of said shaft to engage the threads thereon and prevent relative longitudinalmovement, and a radial feather beyond said segment adapted. to engage the threads on said shaft to prevent relative rotation between said cam and said shaft whereby continued rotation of said shaft in the. same direction is effective to rotate said'cam in association with said fixed cam member to move said shaft and carry said movable jaw into clamping position.

V LINDSLEY SMITH. 

